Keefe Returns Home
Sheldon Keefe, who is a native of Ontario, and spent nine seasons working in the Toronto Maple Leafs organization, will return to Toronto for the first time. While his focus remains solely on the New Jersey Devils, there is certainly an extra spark added to homecoming like the one Keefe will experience on Thursday.
“I’m excited for it. I spent nine years there, the Leafs time, but the Marlies time too, was equally special to me and I was fortunate to essentially raise my family there, in fact, they're still living there," he said.
“It's great to get back there. I'll be able to have lots of friends and family in the building, and then also, just to see the faces around the arena (…) there's a lot of people throughout the organization and in through the building that that you are used to seeing and are such a big part of your career, that the chance to reconnect with them and see them…it's gonna be a funny walk into the visiting side of things. But I fully expect that once the puck drops, it's gonna be, it's gonna be hockey."
For a first NHL coaching job, having it be Toronto can be daunting. It's the biggest media market in all of Canada and expectations are enormous for a team that hasn't won the Cup since 1947. Going through that experience has only made Keefe better prepared for whatever was to come next, which is right here in Jersey.
"I grew a lot through that," Keefe said. "I believe I’ve got thicker skin as a result. I think I’ve been through a lot there that’s helped me grow probably quicker than normal. And I think I’ve come out the other side of it all right and feel like I was all the more prepared coming into this job and I’m sort of ready for anything that comes up."